Ivy Coach College Admissions Blog

Students who need five years to graduate because they can’t get into certain classes should only have to pay for four years (photo credit: Alton).

With the cost of college tuition only rising over the years, more and more students are graduating in serious debt. So what does a school like, say, the University of California, Los Angeles have to say for itself when its students need five years to graduate. And why do they need five years? They need five years because they can’t get into all of the courses they need to take to graduate on time each year. So because they can’t get into all of the courses they need, it can take an extra year (sometimes even more) to graduate.

We find this completely absurd. Just because the college can’t accommodate all of the students it admits, that doesn’t mean the cost of an extra year of tuition should be added onto the bills of matriculating students and their parents. It’s just not right. If it’s really that impossible to accommodate all of these students, the schools shouldn’t admit all of these students. It’s that simple. And they absolutely shouldn’t get more money for making it more difficult for students to get what they’re paying for in four years. The absurdity of the situation!

We encourage schools like UCLA to charge tuition for four years even if it takes five years for students to graduate. It’s not their fault — it’s the university’s fault. The university should have to cover this additional cost rather than the student. It’s the only right thing to do. Have a comment about this controversial subject? Share it with our readers below!